South Korean, Japanese shares recover in Asia

VirginiaHarrison

V.Phani Kumar

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — South Korean and Japanese shares advanced Tuesday to take back some of the losses suffered the previous day, as fears aroused in the wake of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s death subsided.

Australian shares declined on uncertainty over the euro zone’s outlook. Trading was choppy in many regional markets, with volumes thin ahead of the upcoming Christmas holidays.

“With ‘European fatigue’ now having engulfed the market, investors are treading cautiously when it comes to their exposure to risk assets and risk currencies,” Stan Shamu, a market analyst at IG Markets, wrote in a note to clients. He added investors’ cautious approach was likely to persist “until markets have greater confidence in both banks and sovereign nations to engineer a successful deleveraging of their balance sheets.”

Pipe manufacturer Hyundai Hysco soared 9.2% after five consecutive days of losses, including a 4.4% drop Monday, while STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. rose 3.5% after taking heavy losses in the previous three sessions.

In Tokyo, shares of Olympus Corp.
OCPNY, +0.13%
(7733) climbed 16.4% after a string of recent losses, in spite of a Nikkei news report the company may raise 100 billion yen ($1.28 billion) by issuing new shares.

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